Sunday, January 08, 2012

Last night, we were in Maketu for our old friend's wedding.
Good ol' Maoli wedding, filled with laughter, waiata, scrumptuous (sp?) hangi, beer only bar and an unexpected increase in guest numbers the hour before.
Maketu was the location. South of Tauranga. Famous for Maketu Pies and the best fush and chups on this side of the Island.
Great times and I suddenly felt like a palagi in a Samoan gathering - speech after speech and speech and that was just the beginning....still, I love that in moments like weddings, the faasinomaga of the couple are laid out until you realise, he and she are a not alone but are a part of a very wide but close communities.

To make it all the more fascinating, the groom's old man is from Tongareva (Penrhyn), and mother from Moorea, bride from Maketu ....so each family representative relayed their genealogy back to Tagaloa (similar to our folasaga) and ov course, e kausoga kakou kua'a i aso la (...auuuu, isa!)

I also learned a lot about a programme for young Maori called AMO (Advancement for Maori Opportunities) where both the newly weds had been and have produced young people who are passionate about their culture, language and have exchange programmes with other indigenous groups like First Nations, Hawaiians mmf. Fascinating.
Seki a,...viia le Alii i gei polokalame aua ua kele kele le au lauasa ma le au tiai aoga ae mea sili o lo'o toatele fo'i e o lo'o faatauaina la latou aganuu ma le gagana.
Ia, lava ia kala i kipoki sesi i Samoa.
Pictures of some people in the table next to us: